Attracting new students to your dance studio is one of the most important things on your to-do list in 2021. You might be asking yourself “how can I reach out to families outside of my studio, inviting them to join my state-of-the-art dance program?” You’ve come to the right place!

To help you reach out to new students, we’ve put together a list of 4 ideas you can use to promote your dance studio this year.

4 ways to promote your dance studio to new students

1. Use social media

Social media is one of the most popular ways to promote a business. And we’ve seen many dance studios have great success marketing through social media.

First and foremost, it’s free! That alone makes it a no-brainer. But, it’s also an easy way to reach a lot of people at once. While the most popular social media platforms are Facebook and Instagram, don’t feel like you are limited to those two. Dance challenges are the craze on TikTok and you might be surprised to discover the networking opportunities associated with joining LinkedIn.

Look at where your current families are interacting on social media to help you determine where you need to be! You will find more people similar to the families you have there. And don’t be afraid to have fun while showing who you are as a brand on social media. After all, you want to create content that gets people to engage with comments, likes, reactions, and share!

Social media marketing tools

People who aren’t marketers tense up when they see the word ‘marketing’ but we are keeping it super simple here.

If you haven’t already, create a page on Facebook for your studio where you can share upcoming events, open house dates, registration dates and links, and much more! That’s a great first step to the social media world if you are unsure.

Similarly, you can create an account on Instagram for the studio so you can reach those people who may not be using Facebook in a similar fashion.

Wondering what to post? Here at Jackrabbit, we love Canva, a simple graphic creation software (they even have a free version). With templates to choose from and thousands of design elements, no one will ever know your graphics aren’t made by a professional graphic designer.

2. Implement an email strategy

Email marketing is still one of the quickest and most economical ways to promote your dance studio. But it’s more than just sending out an email here and there. You want to make sure you have a consistent, well-planned email strategy to keep people engaged with your dance studio, especially those who aren’t a part of your dance family yet!

Not sure why a full-blown strategy is needed for your dance studio? We’ve put together a list of 6 reasons to implement an email marketing strategy at your studio. (—> Take me to the email strategy infographic)

3. Host a hybrid open house

If 2020 taught us anything, it’s to look at the silver lining. While none of us were prepared for a global pandemic, the dance industry rose to the occasion and thrived. It wasn’t easy but you showed the world how strong you are!

With those challenges, you learned a lot of new skills and likely took your dance program online during the shutdown. And as dance studios have continued to reopen over the last 8-10 months, so many studios are keeping a virtual aspect very much a part of their new reality.

With that in mind, why not make your open house a virtual event also?! You are no longer limited to your immediate area. With the tools you have in your back pocket to zoom dance classes, you can take your dance program and your open house events nationwide so why wouldn’t you? Definitely something to think about!

Spot TV exclusively partners with Jackrabbit to bring live streaming straight to the Parent Portal. Whether you have security cameras already in place or plan to add that in the near future, Spot TV can help you connect with families in ways that have never happened before. 

From dance classes to hybrid events, like open houses, your families will have a top-notch experience with your studio no matter where they are. 

4. Offer trial classes

Trial classes are a great way to sell your dance program, especially when it’s a younger dancer taking class for the very first time. Parents want to make sure that their child is all-in before committing to a full dance season and the recital.

We polled our clients here at Jackrabbit and found that trials are not only popular with our dance studios but they also have an 80 percent conversion rate. That means every 4 out of 5 dancers that try a class at your studio is likely to become a paid student after the trial. Those are some great odds!

What do you need to promote your dance studio?

Now that you’ve got ideas for ways to promote your dance studio, you might be wondering what tools you need to get the word out there. We’ve got you covered there also.

Dance studio management software

Having dance studio management software in 2021 is a must. Not only does it help you manage your dance class enrollment and schedule but remember that email marketing strategy and those free trials we talked about? Having an all-in-one solution, like Jackrabbit Dance, is going to make implementing those ideas easy. Let’s be real – these are just two tasks that you need to juggle and you need robust software that can help you with just about anything.

What are you waiting for?! Join the Jackrabbit family today and start using every feature of the software for free!

I am ready for 30-days free with Jackrabbit Dance!